LONDON'S Green MEP Jean Lambert denounced any war on Iraq as immoral, illegal and counterproductive at a public meeting and film screening in Walthamstow on Sunday (February 2).
Mrs Lambert, who lives in Walthamstow, was speaking after a screening of 'Hidden Wars of Desert Storm', which documents some of the ongoing civilian suffering caused by the 1991 Gulf War, at the Waltham Forest Theatre, Lloyd Park, Winns Terrace, Walthamstow.
'No-one is denying that Saddam is a brutal tyrant who fails to respect the human rights of Iraqis. But it is the Iraqi people who will pay the price of military action with their lives' she said, peaking as fellow Green MEP Caroline Lucas set off for Baghdad on a European Parliament-sponsored peace delegation and just days after the Brussels Parliament voted to oppose military action.
'Ensuring world security is crucial, but war will clearly be counter-productive. We should focus on helping to end other conflicts including those in the Middle-East, Algeria and North Korea. We have also not yet stabilised the situation in Afghanistan'.
Mrs Lambert added: "The cost of the war is unjustifiable - the money set to be spent would be enough to guarantee the water supply in the world's poorest countries or go a long way to relieving the debt of developing nations.
"Blair is hopelessly out of touch with the people of Waltham Forest - and the rest of the UK - in his war-mongering stance: this week he has even admitted his unpopular stance could be the end of his political career.
"I was delighted to see so many at Sunday's meeting - it is vitally important that the majority of people in Waltham Forest join me at the Stop the War Coalition's national demonstration in central London on February 15 to keep up the pressure on Blair to back down from this illegal, immoral and counter-productive military misadventure."
Contact Waltham Forest Stop the War
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For more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280 or 0776 997 0691 Ben Duncan Green MEPs' Press Officer Suite 58, The Hop Exchange, 24 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TY 020 7407 6280 (tel) 0776 997 0691 (mob) 020 7234 0183 (fax) press@greenmeps.org.uk